Cleaning is performed during semiconductor processing to remove surface particles, contaminants, native or chemical oxides, etc. Wafer cleaning and surface preparation steps may be required throughout the fabrication process, and inadequate cleaning may result in significant losses in device yield.
Various approaches for semiconductor wafer cleaning may be used. One approach involves wet chemical cleaning, in which a chemical is applied to react with a contaminant and remove it from the wafer surface. Another approach involves a jet scrubber, which sprays very fine droplets of water or chemicals at a high velocity onto a wafer surface to scrub contaminants or other particles away from the surface of the wafer.
Despite the existence of such approaches, further enhancements in wafer cleaning may be desirable, such as for next generation devices with relatively small dimensions.